ICDE Project Report: Summary Phase VII of the International Common-cause Exchange Project of Nuclear Power Plant Events

NEA/CSNI/R(2019)3

The ICDE project allows multiple countries to collaborate and exchange CCF data to enhance the quality of risk analyses, which include CCF modelling. Because CCF events are typically rare, most countries do not experience enough of them to perform meaningful analyses. Input combined from several countries, however, has yielded sufficient data for more rigorous analyses.

Common-cause failure (CCF) events can significantly impact the availability of the safety system of a nuclear power plant. In recognition of this, CCF data is systematically being collected and analysed in several countries. Because of the low probability of occurrence of such events, it is not possible to derive a comprehensive evaluation of all relevant CCF-phenomena from the operating experience of one individual country. Therefore, it is necessary to make use of the international operating experience from other countries using similar technology.

The ICDE project pursues two main objectives: 1) to collect qualitative and quantitative information about CCFs in NPPs; and 2) to analyse the collected data and distribute the gained insights about CCFs and methods to prevent CCFs in the form of reports to the concerned professional audience.